How to Compost a Backyard

By Home & Garden Last updated Sunday, June/16/2024

Building a Compost Bin

1). Go to your local gardening or hardware store and buy a compost bin. They come in many sizes, depending on how much composting you want to do in your backyard. Set it up on a flat surface, either on pavement or grass.
2). Build your own compost bin out of chicken wire, wood or any other type of lumber. Be sure to leave an opening in the top section and bottom front. The top is where you'll load your garbage in with soil. The bottom front opening is where you'll get the compost after a number of months.
3). Add a cover to the top area of the compost bin if you live in an overly rainy climate. The same goes in overly dry climates. If excess moisture gets into the compost bin, it can ruin the ability of your garbage to turn into compost.

1). Add water to a pile of soil and shovel that wet soil into the bottom of your compost bin. If the compost bin is sitting on grass in your backyard, merely wet the grass with a hose.
2). Gather small pieces of twigs and branches from nearby trees and add those to the bottom of the compost bin. Put in enough so it creates a pile approximately half a foot high.
3). Find biodegradable items to throw into your compost bin. This can range from pieces of nature such as leaves, cut up foliage clippings to food products like raw fruit, vegetables, potato peelings and coffee grounds. Remember to not put meat or processed foods in there since they don't break down as well into the environment.
4). Mix all of the above together in the compost bin with a pitchfork or shovel through the top opening. Keep adding more and adding a little water occasionally over ensuing weeks until you start to see the garbage break down to compost. This could take up to six weeks if not even six months to a year depending on how large your compost pile is.
5). Use a shovel to scoop out your compost from the bottom opening of your compost bin. Place the compost in a bucket or pail and spread around your garden, plants and trees in your backyard. It's a safer alternative to store-brand fertilizers that contain chemicals. Natural compost also contains more moisture that's needed for the soil.